Locking device for beams



March 4, 1969 J. L. HANCOCK 3,430,773

LOCKING DEVICE FOR BEAMS Filed March 30, 1966 INVENTOR.

JAMEs L. HANCOCK ATTORNEY March 4, 1969 J. L. HANCOCK LOCKING DEVICE BEAMS 3 of Z Sheet Filed March 30, 1966 l ll II INVENTOR. JAMES L. HANCOCK ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,430,773 LOCKING DEVICE FOR BEAMS James L. Hancock, Rock Hill, S.C., assignor to Celanese Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 30, 1966, Ser. No. 538,746 US. Cl. 211-13 Int. Cl. A47f 7/18, /03, 1/16 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to racks for supporting cylindrically shaped objects, such as yarn beams or the like, during storage or transportation thereof. It particularly relates to a novel locking means for firmly locking or securing the beams within the racks thereby preventing their unintentional shifting and/or dislocation.

The problem with which this invention is concerned arises from the fact that manufacturers of yarn must in certain instances transport yarn in relatively large quantities to convertors on beams or spools. Such beams have a cylindrically shaped body portion with annular flanges of greater diameter than the body portion at each end thereof. The beams often contain several hundred, and may, in some cases, contain more than a thousand individual ends of yarn and weigh several hundred pounds. Obviously, it is quite important that, during storage or shipment of the beams, the yarn remain undisturbed thereon and/or undamaged. Damaged yarn results in increased operating costs due either to physical damage to the yarn itself, which in some cases the yarn must be disposed of as waste, or to costs involved in rewinding the individual yarn ends onto another beam. In addition to protection of the yarn from damage, the beams, because they are quite expensive, must also be protected from damage. Beams having bent flanges may preclude proper winding of yarn onto the beam or unwinding of yarn from the beam. It is in order to avoid damage to the yarn and/or to the beam that beams are generally shipped and stored in racks. It is essential, however, that the yarn beams be securely fastened or locked, and held firmly in place in the racks in order to prevent their shifting and movement or dislocation within the rack during the handling thereof in storage or transportation. Not only may injury result to the beam or the yarn, however, but a beam insecurely fastened is a safety hazard, and may result in injury to personnel engaged in handling the racks during their shipment and storage. In order to insure that the yarn beams are securely fastened within the racks, various securing means or looking devices have been suggested, as is shown, for example, in United States Patent Nos. 2,593,472; 2,762,514; and 3,084,803, which patents are deemed exemplary of the prior art.

While beam locking devices currently in use have been found suitable in many respects, there remain certain disadvantages associated with their use. Often the locking device or elements thereof extend outwardly, at least in part, from the beam rack and are susceptible to being struck during handling of the rack, with or without beams thereon, thus resulting in accidental loosening or unlocking, if the lock is in the locked position, or in damaged locks which quite often are not reparable and must, therefore, be replaced with new ones. Damaged locks are not only relatively costly in repair or replacement, but as above mentioned, may become a safety hazard and result in injury to operating personnel. Moreover, locks currently in use require wrenches, pliers, or other tools in order to operate the mechanism which locks or secures the beam within the rack, or by which the lock may be disengaged or unlocked.

It is to avoid the above mentioned disadvantages which is the primary object of this invention. It is also an object to provide a novel lock for use with beam racks and the like which has the advantage of simplicity, requires no tools to operate, is positive in action and firmly holds a beam in its rack, thus preventing shifting and/or dislocation. It is a further object to provide a locking device for yarn beams which is not susceptible to damage or to being unintentionally loosened.

Other objects will become apparent after reading the detailed description appearing hereinafter and by examing the drawings which are appended hereto.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a single beam and rack having thereon a locking means according to my invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged end view of my locking device, standing at, e.g., the left end of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view of my novel locking device taken along lines 3-3 in FIGURE 2 but shown in the disengaged or unlocked position; and

FIGURE 4 is a side elevation of the locking device according to my invention showing it in the engaged or locked position.

The above-mentioned objects and other advantages of my invention are attained by a relatively simple manually operated locking device comprising a pivotable lever or member which extends into an opening in the beam flange thus preventing movement of the beam within the rack, and means for securing or locking the lever within the opening.

Although the locking device is described more in detail hereinafter with respect to a tricot beam having flanges with central openings therein, by means of which such beams may be mounted for rotation during Winding of the yarn thereon or unwinding the yarn therefrom, it is deemed readily apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention is not so limited. The locking device may be used for securing objects other than yarn beams having flanges with central openings, e.g., by providing an annular opening in the object to be secured or in an attachment having an opening therein fastened thereto. Section beams which generally have solid flanges can be secured by a lock according to the invention by providing such beam flanges with openings for inserting the pivotable member.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, there is shown in phantom in FIGURE 1 a beam 1 which is secured or locked in position by a pair of locking devices 2 to a conventional beam rack shown generally by reference numeral 3. The beam 1, which may have several hundred, or even a thousand or more, individual ends of continuous filament yarn thereon, but which for sake of clarity the yarn is not shown in the drawing, has a cylindricalVbody portion 4 and two annular disc-like flanges 5, 6 of greater diameter, located at opposite ends of the cylindical body portion. The rack 3 has at least two longitudinal extending members 7, 8 which are interconnected with pairs of upright supports or posts 9, 9 and 10, 10. Traverse members 11, 12 having indentations or groove-like portions 13, 14 are provided at each end of the rack, by which the flanges of the yarn beam are supported, as is shown in the drawing. As is readily seen, the bottom portion of the beam flanges resting in indentations 13, 14 within the transverse support members 11, 12 aids in preventing unintentional movement of the beam along the transverse support members.

The various beam rack elements above-mentioned are preferably metal, e.g., steel, and are interconnected, preferably, by welding; however, they may be interconnected by other means, such as, e.g., by bolting or the like. The upright supports 9, 9 and '1-0, 10 may also be provided as is commonly done, and as is shown in the drawing with male members for insertion into female members, not shown, in the bottom of the upright supports of another rack in order that racks may be superposed with respect to one another. Quite obviously, the rack elements are provided of suitable materials, size and dimensions, according to good engineering practices, for supporting the weight of the beams and can be either of solid or tubular structure, as desired.

Although, hereinafter, the invention is more fully described with reference to only one of the locking devices 2, shown in FIGURE 1, it is deemed obvious that such detailed description applies to 'both locking devices.

The locking means or device 2 of my invention, as is more clearly shown in FIGURES 24, has an elongated pivotable member or lever which may be pivoted and moved from a vertical or disengaged position as is shown in FIGURE 3 into the engaged or locked position shown in FIGURE 4. The pivotable lever 15 as is best shown in FIGURES 3 and 4 has an elongated body portion 16 having at one end thereof, quite desirably, but as a matter-of-choice, a projection or hook-like configuration 17. Projection 17 extends substantially at a right angle to the elongated body portion 16. In the locked or engaged position projection 17 is seen to overlap and abut the inside surface of opening 18 in flange 5 of the beam. One can see quite readily that such a projection 17 provided on locking devices 2 located at each end of the beam rack 3 aids in preventing shifting of the beam 1 longitudinally within the rack. In the drawing, FIGURE 4, projection 17 is, for the sake of clarity, not abutted against the inside surface of the flange.

The end of body portion 16 of the pivotable lever 15 extending into annular opening 18 may be arcuate shaped, although such is not shown in the drawing, so as to conform to the peripheral surface of the opening. Near the opposite end of the pivotable lever 15 there is provided a slot 19 through which bolt 20 extends and connects the pivotable member 15 to side plates 21, 22 of locking device 2. In this opposite end of the pivotable member 15 is also provided a bore 23 which extends toward the aforementioned one end and terminates in the slot 19. A spring 24 or other resilient means, e.g., a compressible rubber plug, is secured by a plug 25, which may be threaded, from coming out of the bore 23. Spring 24 presses against bolt 19 and in this way, urges the pivotable lever 15 away from the bolt, i.e., to the right as is shown in FIGURE 4 of the drawing, for a purpose hereinafter more fully described. When in either the disengaged position shown in FIGURE 3 or the engaged position shown in FIGURE 4, pivotable lever 15 will remain in such position, due to the action of spring 24 pressing against bolt 20, until it is manually pivoted into one or the other position.

Locking device 2 is secured to transverse member or strut 26, which may, as is shown in the drawing, be of tubular construction, by any fastening means desired, preferably by welding; however, it may also be secured by bolting or the like. Extending upwardly through holes 27 in the transverse strut 26 and hole 28 in support plate 29 of the locking device is a manually operated screw or built-in locking tool generally shown by reference numeral 30. A locking nut 31 through which screw 30 is threaded is permanently aflixed, as, for example, by welding, to support plate 29. The screw 30 is rotated by handle 32 and moves from the lowered position shown in FIGURE 3 to the raised position shown in FIGURE 4 against the lower part of pivotable lever 15. When the lever 15 is in the engaged position shown the screw 30 forces the lever against the beam flange 5 and secures the lever in that position. With screw 30 located against the bottom of pivotable lever 15, the screw acts, in addition to spring 24, in securing and maintaining pivotable member 15 in the engaged or locked position. One can readily see that it is not possible for pivotable lever 15 to be unintentionally disengaged from beam flange 5, once the pivotable member 15 is properly engaged. Moreover, it is not necessary in disengaging pivotable member 15 from annular opening 18 to back-off or screw the screw 30 to the lowered position shown in FIGURE 3. Screw 30 may, if desired, merely be backed-off two or three or more turns sufficient enough so that screw 30 clears the bottom of pivotable lever 15. The pivotable lever 15 is then urged to the left of the position as shown in FIGURE 4, merely by using finger pressure, thus compressing spring 24 thereby allowing the pivot point of the lever to shift to the right whereby the pivotable lever 15, when pivoted, clears the partially backed-off screw 30. The fact that pivotable lever 15 is prevented from pivoting and thereby becoming accidentally disengaged from the beam flange 5, even though screw 30 is not pressing against the pivotable lever 15, is of great importance. To further insure that pivotable lever 15 will not become disengaged accidentally, i.e., without intentionally manually pivoting the lever, whereby the beam is not secured in position, the screw 30 may be modified so that it cannot be backed-off fully such as is shown in FIGURE 3 of the drawing. A collar or the like, not shown in the drawing, can be welded or otherwise aifixed to screw 30 whereby the downward movement of the screw is limited by locking nut 31 to about two or three turns. The downward movement of the screw should, if a collar or the like is provided, be only suflicient to allow pivotable lever 15 to be pivoted when spring 24 is compressed as hereinbefore described. While screw 30 is preferable in preventing pivotable lever 15 from pivoting, it is, of course, understood by those skilled in the art that a cam can also be used to accomplish the same result.

The operation of the lock will now be described in greater detail. A yarn beam is positioned according to known techniques, e.g., by suitable hoisting mechanism or the like, on the yarn rack 3 as is shown in FIGURE 1 of the drawing. The beam 1 is guided and allowed to move onto transverse support members 11, 12 until it comes to rest in the indentations or groove-like portions 13, 14. It is understood, of course, that means other than grooves 13, 14 may be used to retain the beam flanges and thereby prevent the beam from rolling unintentionally along the traverse support members, such as, e.g., shoes, blocks, chocks or the like. The locking device 2 in the disengaged or unlocked position, as shown in FIGURE 3, has the pivotable lever 15 extending generally vertically upward. The bolt 20 is at the forwardmost end of slot 19 and spring 24 pressing against bolt 20 is urging pivotable lever 15 away from the bolt, i.e., pivotable lever 15 is urged toward support plate 29. Pivotable lever 15 is then manually pivoted, i.e., by hand, so that the forward or front end of the lever extends into annular opening 18 of the yarn beam flange 5, as is shown in FIGURES 3 and 4. Upon being pivoted into the engaged position shown in FIGURE 4, spring 24 which is under compression and is pressing against bolt 20 located in the forwardmost portion of slot 19 urges pivotable lever 15 to the right thereby aiding in preventing pivotable lever 15 from pivoting accidentally, e.g., where an operator forgets to position screw 30 against the lever. Pivotable lever 15 must, because of the action of spring 24, be intentionally manually pivoted from the engaged position to the disengaged position, or vice-versa. Screw 30 is then turned or rotated by handle 32 until it engages the bottom side of the pivotable lever 15, preferably in a depressed or cutout portion 33, thus positively preventing pivotable lever from pivoting clockwise as shown in FIGURES 3 and 4, and from disengaging the beam flange during handling of the racks and beams in storage or shipment.

As before-mentioned, the invention is described more fully with respect to only one of the locking devices 2 shown in FIGURE 1. Further, although only a single rack and beam is shown in the drawing, it is, of course, understood by those skilled in the art that in shipment and storage of such racks and beams there may be a number of such which are superposed on top of one another, as is described, e.g., in United States Patent No. 3,084,803, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference.

It is to be understood that changes and variations may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Locking means comprising, in combination with a yarn beam rack, an elongated pivotable lever, one end of which when in the engaged position extends into an opening in the object to be secured, said lever having a main body portion integral with said one end, and another end opposite from said one end and integral with said body portion, said body portion having therein a longitudinally extending slot located generally at the pivot point of said pivotable lever, means located in said slot for fastening said lever to a support means in a pivotable relationship, means provided in said slot for urging said another end of the pivotable lever away from said fastening means and means separate from said lever and carried by said support means for securing said elongated pivotable lever in the engaged position.

2. Locking means according to claim 1 wherein the surface of said one end of the pivotable lever adjacent to and abutting said opening conforms to the surface of the opening.

3. Locking means according to claim 1 wherein the means for securing the pivotable lever in the engaged position is a retractable screw means wherein said screw engages said body portion to secure the pivotable lever.

4. Locking means according to claim 3 wherein the urging means is a spring.

5. Locking means according to claim 4 wherein said securing means comprises a screw means which when in an engaged position bears against the pivotable lever.

6. In combination with a rack for supporting flanged yarn beams having at least one opening in each flange, said rack including at least one pair of longitudinally extending members interconnecting at least two pairs of spaced apart upright supports, transverse members for supporting said beam flanges being interconnected with said longitudinal members and said upright supports, and transverse struts being interconnected with the upright supports, a locking means according to claim 5 supported on at least one of said transverse struts.

7. Locking means comprising an elongated pivotable lever one end of which when in the engaged position extends into an opening in the object to be secured, said end having a projection extending at an angle to said elongated lever, said lever having a main body portion integral with said one end and another end opposite from said one end and integral with said body portion, said body portion having therein a longitudinally extending slot located generally at the pivot point of said pivotable lever, means located in said slot for fastening said lever to a support means in a pivotal relationship, spring means provided in said slot for urging said other end of the pivotable lever away from said fastening means and retractable screw means for securing said elongated pivotable lever in the engaged position, said screw means being separate from said lever and being carried on the support means.

8. In combination with a rack for supporting flanged yarn beams or the like having at least one opening in at least one flange, said rack including at least one pair of spaced apart longitudinally extending members interconnecting at least two pairs of spaced apart upright supports, traverse members for supporting said beam flanges interconnected with said longitudinal members and said upright supports, and transverse struts also being interconnected with the upright supports and adjacent said opening in the beam flange, a locking means supported on at least one of the transverse struts, said locking means comprising an elongated pivotable lever, one end of which when in the engaged position extends into said at least one opening in said flange, said pivotable lever having a projection at said one end extending into the opening which projection overlaps the opening and abuts the inner surface of the flange, said pivotable lever also having at the opposite end thereof a slot through which extends a bolt for securing the pivotable lever to a pair of side plates whereby the pivotable lever is made pivotable, a spring fixedly secured in and located in said slot pressing against said bolt, and a screw moveable into and out of engagement with said pivotable lever when in the engaged position whereby the pivotable lever is prevented from pivoting.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,840,211 1/1932 Reinhart 16-141 1,411,771 4/1922 Eagle 211-44 XR 1,927,010 9/1933 Best 211-44 3,084,803 4/1963 Bayers 211-13 3,147,005 9/1964 Miller 248-361 XR ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

